Conveyor apparatus



1959 A. RITSCHER ETAL 2,918,197

CONVEYOR APPARATUS Filed. April 5, 1956 l I .flttorkeyis 2,9 18,197CONVEYOR APPARATUS Arthur Ritscher, Hamburg-Bergedorf, and BernhardSchubert, Hambnrg-Sasel, Germany, assignors to Kurt Kiirber & Co. K.G.,Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany Application April 5, 1956, Serial No. 576,452Claims priority, application Germany, April 29, 1955 ll Claim. (Cl.221-183) This invention relates to apparatus for inserting rodshapedarticles, such as cigaraettes or cigars, into grooves located inrotating conveyor means.

In cases where it becomes necessary to supply rodshaped articles, suchas cigarettes, from a storage bin to grooves formed in the outerperiphery of a conveyor drum, a chute or the like is employed to conductthe articles from the bin to the conveyor drum. The arrangement is suchthat when a groove in the conveyor drum sweeps over the mouth of thechute, the cigarette nearest the drum will fall into the groove. Itoften happens, however, that certain of the grooves remain unfilled asthey sweep over the mouth of the chute.

To circumvent this problem prior art devices have employed a secondchute, located beyond the first, which is designed to fill the emptygrooves after they have swept over the mouth of the first chute. Locatedin the open end of the second chute is a bucket which can be made torotate where an empty groove passes thereunder to deposit a cigarette inthat empty groove.

Although the device described above may be satisfactory for certainpurposes, it fails, for example, when 1,000 or more cigarettes perminute are inserted into the conveyor drum. A further disadvantage ofthe device lies in the fact that the lowermost cigarette in the chute isalways under the pressure of the cigarettes above it and each cigarettemust change from a stationary position in the chute to the movingconveyor almost instantaneously. These two factors combine in causing astrain upon the cigarette with a resultant substantial loss of tobaccofrom the cigarette.

It is an object of this invention to provide new and improved means fortransferring cigarettes or the like from a bin to a moving conveyor. Inaccordance with the present invention, a column of cigarettes isretained in the chute leading from a storage bin by a stationarysupport. A rotating finger, having the speed of the conveyor drum, thenpicks up the cigarette in the chute nearest the drum and deposits it ina groove in the drum. In this manner rubbing friction between thecigarettes and conveyor drum is eliminated and the insertion of thecigarettes into their cooperating grooves is achieved withoutacceleration. The rotating finger is provided on one side with a profilecorresponding to the form of the cigarette and is shaped on its otherside so that the cigarettes are delivered to the conveyor smoothly andcontinuously.

In the embodiment of the device shown and described herein, severalchutes are provided for conveying cigarettes from their bin to therotating drum. With this arrangement, a plurality of grooves may befilled simultaneously whereby the speed of the drum is decreased anddamage to the cigarettes is minimized.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying single figure drawing which forms a part of thisspecification.

Referring to the drawing, cigarettes 1 are placed on the bottom plates2a and 2b of a storage bin 3. Communicating with the lowermost portionof bin 3 are tilted rates atent 2,918,197 Patented Dec. 22, 1959 icethree chutes or channels 4a and 4b and 40 which are adapted to receivethe cigarettes 1, substantially as shown. Eccentrically supportedrollers 5a, 5b, 5c and 50. will, upon rotation in the same direction,permit the cigarettes to drop into the respective channels.

For purposes of simplicity the operation of chute 4a will be describedonly, it being understood that the operation of the other two chutes isthe same. As shown, the lowermost cigarette 1a in chute 4a rests upon asupport 6a which is fastened to the left hand side wall 7a of the chute.At the lower extremity of chute 4a is disposed a circular rotatingmember 8a having a finger 9a secured to its outer periphery. Uponrotation of member 8a in the direction of arrow 10a, finger 9a will passthrough a slot 11a in side wall 7a and support 6a to strip off thelowermost cigarette in chute 4a and deposit it in groove 12a of theconveyor drum 14, rotating in the direction of arrow 13. Support 6aprevents the lowermost cigarette in the chute from being bruised bycoming in contact with the rotating member 8a. The channel wall 15a, atits lower extremity, is extended in an arc concentric to member 8a toprevent the cigarettes from falling outwardly when they are carried byfinger 9a from chute 4a to groove 12a.

The other rotating members 8b and 8c operate in a similar manner anddeposit the cigarettes 1b and 1c in their respective grooves 12b and120. Suitable gearing means, not shown, interconnects members 8a, 8b and8c to conveyor drum 14 whereby the outer periphery of drum 14 willtraverse the distance between every third groove during one revolutionof the members 8a, 8b and 80. In this manner rotating member 8a willdeposit cigarettes in grooves 12a and 12a, member 8b will depositcigarettes in grooves 12b and 12b, and so on. The speed of the drum 14can thus be increased over the case where only one chute is employed.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a certainspecific embodiment it should be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and arrangement of parts can bemade to suit requirements without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

We claim:

In an apparatus for depositing cigarettes and the like, comprising arotary conveying drum having a plurality of circumferentially spacedcigarette receiving grooves in its peripheral surface, a storage bin forthe cigarettes arranged above said drum, a channel member extendingdownwardly from said bin toward said drum with its lower end arranged inspaced relation from the periphery of said drum, a pair of spaced prongsextending across a portion of the mouth of said channel for supportingthe lowermost cigarette in said channel member and retaining the onesdirectly thereabove in stacked relation, a rotary roller disposedbetween the mouth of said channel member and the periphery of saidrotary drum, and a finger extending radially outward from the peripheryof said rotary member adapted to pass between said prongs and engage thelowermost cigarette in said channel member and convey the same throughan arcuate channelway of approximately for being deposited in one of thegrooves in said rotary drum, said prongs being arranged to hold thelowermost cigarettes in said channel in spaced relation from said rotaryroller and in a position to be engaged by said finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS815,173 Huser Mar. 13, 1906 2,001,786 Karnaghan May 21, 1935 2,419,242Woodberry et a1 Apr. 22, 1947 2,550,616 Stephano Apr. 24, 1951

